Kent Hughes could acquire a new player for free today: five options on the table

As we reported in the last few hours, no less than five players have been placed on waivers and are now available for free.

We didn't think that the Montreal Canadiens would be the ones to watch in this matter, but it could be the case in the end.

We just came across a text from "Montreal Hockey Now" that says this:




Craig Smith of the Boston Bruins, Austin Czarnik of the Red Wings, Jason Demers of the Oilers, Danila Zhuravlyov of the Avalanche and Nikita Soshnikov of the Islanders were placed on waivers.

The big surprise here is Smith, who has been an NHL regular for over 10 years and hasn't played in the AHL since 2012. (4 games) He's put up nearly 50 points per 82 games over the past five years, but this season has been tougher for him (4 points in 17 games)

Czarnik has three points in 11 games with the Red Wings and Jason Demers has nine assists in 24 games with the Bakersfield Condors of the AHL. Demers is a right-handed defenseman.


In fact, Montreal Hockey Now explains that while none of these players are particularly exciting, they represent the very last chance for Kent Hughes to get his hands on a new player before the holiday freeze.

For those who didn't know, as Pierre LeBrun mentioned, NHL GMs have until tonight to improve their rosters. After that, they will not be able to waive or trade until December 28th.

Will Kent Hughes take advantage of his last chance to add a player? Stay tuned!


Credit: Montreal Hockey Now